Samsung Electronics has struck a long-term licensing deal with Intellectual Ventures, giving the South Korean electronics giant rights to the technology patents held by the Bellevue-based firm run by Nathan Myhrvold, the former Microsoft chief technology officer.

No financial terms were disclosed as part of the announcement. The deal "grants Samsung access to a broad and comprehensive IP portfolio under terms attractive to Samsung," said Dr. Seungho Ahn, a Samsung Electronics senior vice president, in the news release.

Intellectual Ventures' patent holdings -- consisting of more than 30,000 intellectual property assets, according to the news release -- has raised concerns in the industry over the potential for the company to wield the portfolio to extract undue royalties from technology companies who run afoul of the patents.

Myhrvold disputes the assertion that he's a patent troll, writing in a February article in Harvard Business Review that he's an advocate of "invention capital," which he described as "a capital market for inventions akin to the venture capital market that supports start-ups and the private equity market that revitalizes inefficient companies."

Update: Mario Obeidat, head of software and communications licensing for Intellectual Ventures, said via phone that the firm has a number of these types of agreements currently in the pipeline. The agreement with Samsung is "a strategic and cooperative relationship" that also includes options for the companies to collaborate on projects.

"It's a validation of Intellectual Ventures' business model in working to create an efficient IP economy," he said.

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